Milk. € 500 million on the table – Telegram

The European Commission put his hand to the pocket in an attempt to support the dairy market depressed for months. She confirmed yesterday the release of a new EUR 500 million.

Reduce milk production in Europe to raise prices: this is the objective of the European Commission presented a new plan for the sector yesterday. The latest measures, which started in September 2015, did not work. Or for milk production, still too abundant nor for prices, still too low, prompting producers and Member States to call for a new intervention from Brussels. This time, “the ultimate goal is to observe a recovery in prices paid to farmers they really need, so they can continue to live from their work,” said yesterday the European Commissioner for Agriculture Phil Hogan. The new envelope of € 500 million is based on two pillars. No matter reimpose quotas however. On the one hand, Brussels will provide € 150 million to encourage farmers to reduce production of milk. They will be compensated individually (between 11 and 14 cents per liter of milk not produced, according to experts). And not through cooperatives or interbranch organizations.

“First come first served”

“It’s first come, first served” said Phil Hogan. The submission of applications will take place in September and the system will be launched on 1 October. The Commission’s objective is to reduce milk production of 1.4 million tonnes. Just in the first four months of the year, it rose again to 4.5% in Europe and 0.2% in France. “This is the first time since the end of milk quotas, which raises the question of the control of production in case of market imbalance,” noted Stéphane Le Foll, supporter for nearly one year an intervention of this type. “Dairy French producers do not want their aid is conditional on a reduction in production”, for its part, responded Beulin Xavier, president of the FNSEA, saying that France had done its part and that of Europe North Tackling them now. On the other side, the EU releases new funds for aid to the tune of € 350 million that will be paid to the Member States. To them take control of their national envelope and to identify measures to balance the agricultural markets. The aid will be doubled by the States, said the Commission. Brussels has imposed these new ads to non-financial measures such as the extension until February 2017 response measures in place to milk powder. Finally, Member States may pay in advance, from mid-October until 70% of the aid received under the Common Agricultural Policy.